The Last Single Girl
by PrudencePiperHalliwell
Summary: [muggle world] Hermione has fallen into a monotonous routine following a tragic loss. She has isolated herself from most of her friends and family following the loss of her ex boyfriend. A twist of fate and a whirlwind of events turn her monotonous life upside down. She finds herself in Draco Malfoy's line of vision. Can Draco Malfoy bring this shy bookworm out of her shell?


Author's Note: It's been a minute since I last wrote anything. Then I had this idea about taking Hermione's character, putting her solely in the muggle world, giving her a tragedy and having her come into herself from that tragedy. I'm not really sure where I want this story to go, but I have a general idea. I am totally open to any ideas or suggestions. This is the first time in almost three years since I've gotten the urge to write anything, so I'm just going to go with it. If anyone is looking to beta a story, please pm me! Thank you for reading and I apologize if the writing is atrocious, I'm a little rusty.

My life has become monotonous. Wake up at 5 am, go to work via three trains and a ferry, and push around papers until lunchtime. Lunch consists of visiting the office cafeteria, avoiding Ginny's eye contact, and wasting away playing word search games on my phone. Following lunch is a three hour meeting that easily could have been an email. Finally it's 5:00 which means freedom.

I take the three trains and the ferry back home. It's almost 7:00 by the time I walk through the door. I try to pet my cat who practically snarls at me and stalks away. I really wanted a dog, but I'm never home between work and commuting two hours each way.

Some days I'll do an online yoga video or a thirty minute cardio circuit on my elliptical in front of the television, watching the latest episode of "The Last Single Girl". This is what my life has become.

A working cat lady at the age of twenty eight.

I wasn't always like this. I used to have a more exciting life - less predictable. I can't recall when it all changed - wait that's a lie.

It all changed when my boyfriend - well ex boyfriend now - died almost two years ago. I'm getting ahead of myself though.

Here I am, at twenty eight years old, spending a majority of my young, vivacious life commuting back and forth to the city for work. The highlight of my week is when I am successfully able to avoid being roped into having a one sided conversation with the office gossip, Ginny, or when my cat lets me pet her. I can count on one hand, **one hand**, the amount of times this damn cat has let me pet her.

How did we get here?

Four years ago, at the fresh ripe age of twenty four, I was so full of hope. I had just graduated with my Master's in English Language Arts from one of the most prestigious universities in the country. I was ready to take on whatever the world threw at me. The typical twenty four year old invincible mentality that engulfed all of my fellow graduates as well.

After one entire year of only getting through round one of interviews, and countless rejection emails, I was at a loss of what to do.

Thats where Tim came in.

Have you ever been so low on yourself, that one small act of kindness is mistaken for heroism?

I had no job prospects, no full time employment, and mountains of student debt. No sane person would have or should have, been attracted to me in that scenario. Yet, there he was.

Looking back now, he was just your average guy. Five foot seven, thin, but muscular. He was definitely more into cardio than strength training. He wore sneakers, jeans, and a black pull over sweatshirt. His hair was buzzed so close to his scalp, that you almost thought he had his head shaved.

I had been sitting in a small coffee shop around the block from my apartment on a Saturday morning with my laptop. Yet again, I was trying to submit resumes to positions that I was supposed to have the experience for. I checked all of the requirements the companies wanted, yet I would rarely get a response. My reading glasses had been on the edge of my nose with my fingers typing furiously at the keys. My eyes had been scrunched in sheer concentration, completely oblivious to this man staring at me from the line.

A cup being placed in front of me, beside my laptop, snapped me out of my trance.

"I don't know how you like your coffee, but you look like you could use some."

Our eyes locked and like that there was a connection. It was not love at first sight because there is no such thing. However, there was something. Whatever it was, he had to have felt it to. And thus began the two year whirlwind romance of Tim and Hermione.

All of that is nothing but a distant memory now, though. I have not written anything in years, and settled for a position as an administrative assistant in a prestigious law firm in the city. The pay is fantastic for the minimal amount of work that I do and the benefits are highly sought after. I chose stability and safety after the storm that was Tim. I needed to be able to hold onto something and have reliability.

And that's how my life became one giant routine. Predictability and monotony became comfortable.

The only unstable thing about my life right now is this dang cat. The mood swings that this cat has are worse than mine on my period.

I once had a medium tell me that my cat feels abandoned and that's why acts out. I feel like he blames me. You see, this is Tim's cat.


End file.
